A Nigerian fighter jet misfired during an operation Tuesday, striking refugees at a camp in Borno state for the internally displaced, as well as aid workers with the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to Nigerian officials and the Red Cross.
Though the government has provided no official death toll, an aid organization said more than 50 people were killed.
The operation was targeting the terrorist organization, Boko Haram, according to the Nigerian army.
Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor, a Nigerian army commander, said during a news conference in Maiduguri that two soldiers died during the operation.
“There are casualties and wounded but the actual numbers,” he said, “I am yet to get the numbers of casualties of civilians were killed.”
Doctors Without Borders, in condemning what it called a “large-scale attack on vulnerable people,” said 52 people were killed and 120 more were wounded. The humanitarian group, which has teams in the area, called the incident “shocking and unacceptable.”
“The safety of civilians must be respected. We are urgently calling on all parties to ensure the facilitation of medical evacuations by air or road for survivors who are in need of emergency care,” said Jean-Clément Cabrol, Doctors Without Borders’ director of operations.
Doctors Without Borders teams are providing first aid to the wounded at their facility in Rann, the group said. They’re also preparing to treat patients evacuated from the refugee camp.
ICRC Africa said on Twitter that six Nigerian Red Cross staffers had been killed and 13 others wounded.
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